CBNNews.com - JERUSALEM, Israel - A few minutes before 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, Jerusalemites got a taste of what Israelis in the south and the north have experienced time and time again: an air raid siren.

Many people didn't know what to do.

The nation's emergency rescue system, Magen David Adom, was flooded with calls from anxious residents asking what they should do.

An elementary school in Ma'ale Adumim took the children to bomb shelters.

"Some of the students were upset and crying," one eight-year-old child said. "But I knew it was okay because I saw that the teachers were calm," he said.

It turned out that some kind of technical error set off the siren," the Home Front Command reported, but it provided an emergency drill, albeit unplanned, for the city.

"It's true that not everyone took it seriously, but this siren was a drill for the city," Home Front Command Central District head Col. Anwar Sa'ab told The Jerusalem Post.

"It put Jerusalem in a state of readiness," Sa'ab said. "In schools, we saw correct responses, with children led into bomb shelters," he said.

On Thursday, two rockets hit in the central district, under Sa'ab's command.

"In our district, we have made excellent preparations. We distributed clear instructions to residents telling them to clean out their safe rooms [often used for storage], and we are working with local councils to ensure that public bomb shelters are ready," he said.

"Our preparations were very organized and aimed at getting civilians to understand the importance of the siren and of remaining alert," Sa'ab said.